


Somebody's Boyfriend

by ami_ven



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Ending Relationship, F/M, M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-03
Updated: 2019-11-03
Packaged: 2021-01-21 04:35:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21293672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ami_ven/pseuds/ami_ven
Summary: Rodney was actually a pretty good boyfriend – if he could only figure out who he was supposed to be boyfriendto.
Relationships: Rodney McKay/John Sheppard, ending Jennifer Keller/Rodney McKay
Comments: 20
Kudos: 193





	Somebody's Boyfriend

Rodney McKay was not a bad boyfriend.

Jennifer got the impression he thought he was, from the things she’d pieced together about his previous relationships, but she didn’t see it. They were both busy professionals, but still saw each other often. Rodney didn’t consider medicine a ‘real’ science, but he understood that her job could be challenging and that she worked hard. She enjoyed his enthusiasm for scientific discovery, which could make him seem absolutely adorable – not that she would ever tell him that – and she found that his awkward but sincere compliments could still make her blush.

Really, Rodney was actually a pretty good boyfriend – if he could only figure out who he was supposed to be boyfriend _to_.

Jennifer had known how close Rodney was to his team when they’d started dating. It was healthy for people to have friendships, and she had never believed that a couple needed to spend every moment together.

But, while Jennifer spread her free time between various hobbies and social circles, Rodney could more often than not be found in the sole company of Colonel Sheppard, and not just during his off-hours – when they weren’t off-world with Teyla and Ronon, John was usually in Rodney’s lab. When they ate dinner in the mess, Rodney always sat next to Jennifer – even pulled her chair out for her, if they arrived together – but spent most of their meals arguing with John across the table. 

They had only been dating for a few months when Atlantis ended up on Earth, so Jennifer hadn’t expected them to be meeting each other’s families so soon, but it made something settle uncomfortably in her stomach to realize that Jeannie had not just arranged for Rodney’s team to visit her in Canada, but that she’d done it by communicating with John instead of her brother.

Jennifer tried not to think too much about that – she’d already made plans to visit her own family and she didn’t have a team, not the way Rodney did, but the uncomfortable feeling stayed there, until one day she understood why.

Rodney’s team had been off-world for three days, as technical support for SG-3, who had found some Ancient equipment on an uninhabited moon, and they were all having dinner in the mess hall at the SGC afterwards. Rodney had been complaining practically non-stop since they’d gotten back – about the carelessness of the Ancients, about the incompetence of SG-3’s Marines, about the weather, about missing Atlantis – and Jennifer had let him, allowing the words to flow over her, not really hearing them.

But John kept interjecting, nudging Rodney back into his rant when he got distracted, offering purposely contradictory opinions apparently just to watch Rodney splutter, trying not to smile. He _liked_ hearing Rodney complain, Jennifer realized. She had never minded it, never stopped him, but John actively encouraged it, seemed to miss it when Rodney went quiet.

John and Rodney continued to argue all through dinner, until Rodney made a _so there_ gesture with the spoon from his now-empty pudding cup and John slid the cup on his own tray a few millimeters toward him. Rodney scooped it up, not even breaking his verbal stride until the first smug bite of chocolate pudding.

It was something Jennifer was sure she’d seen a dozen times before, but for the first time, she noticed that John had a slice of pie on his tray, without a spoon – he’d meant to give Rodney the pudding all along, meant for Rodney to take it, without a word between them.

Jennifer lost the rest of their conversation, deep in thought.

When the IOA finally cleared them to take Atlantis back to Pegasus, Jennifer cheered right along with everyone else. Rodney found her in her office a few hours later, writing up treatment reports for a few of the people who had been celebrating a little too hard.

“You’re staying on Earth,” Rodney said, softly – it wasn’t a question or an accusation.

Jennifer nodded. “You’re going back to Atlantis.”

“Yeah,” he said. “I – yeah.”

Her smile was a little sad, but genuine. “Under other circumstances, we could have been really happy together.”

“Yeah,” Rodney said, again.

“If we hadn’t met in another galaxy. If we’d both had different careers. If you weren’t so obviously in love with someone else.”

“Yeah,” Rodney repeated, then froze. “What? No, no, I’m not – Jennifer, I would _never_—”

She put a reassuring hand on his arm. “I know you wouldn’t cheat on me, Rodney. I know how much you care – you wear your heart right there on your sleeve. But I also know that you’re not asking me to come with you.”

“No,” he admitted, softly.

“And if Colonel Sheppard wasn’t going with you?” she asked.

“What? He can’t! I wouldn’t let him— Oh.”

“Yeah,” said Jennifer.

“Oh. Oh, Jennifer, I am so, so sorry,” he said.

“There’s nothing to be sorry for, Rodney. I won’t pretend it doesn’t hurt – but it always hurts a little when good things end. That doesn’t mean they don’t have to.”

“And we had a good thing?”

She squeezed his arm and let go. “_Very_ good. But I think we both deserve better than just ‘good’, don’t you?”

“You do,” he said.

“We both do,” repeated Jennifer. “And you should take it.”

“What…?” Rodney’s eyes widened. “You mean Sheppard? He isn’t – he doesn’t—”

“You don’t know that,” she said, then admitted, “Neither do I. But you’ll never find out unless you talk to him. Not even something like that could ruin the friendship you two have. And if John _does_…”

“He likes girls,” Rodney protested, weakly.

Jennifer snorted. “So do you.”

“There’s still Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell…”

“I’m not asking.”

“You really think he might?” Rodney asked, but there was hope in his voice.

She smiled and came around her desk to hug him. “Good luck, Rodney.”

“You, too,” he said, and took a step back. “I should…”

“The colonel was rounding up tipsy Marines in the mess hall, last I saw him,” Jennifer said. “If you’re looking for him.”

“Thank you,” said Rodney, leaning in to kiss her cheek, then he left her office.

Jennifer sat back down, smiling to herself, and logged onto her computer to find the paperwork for transfer back to Earth. 

THE END


End file.
